Choosing to See: A Journey of Struggle and Hope

Title: CHOOSING TO SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope
Author: Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn
Publisher: Revell
August 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8007-1991-3
Genre: Inspirational/memoir

All of us in the Christian internet world remember the day that the news broke that Steve Curtis Chapman lost his five-year-old daughter, Maria, in a tragic accident. Some of us flocked over to their blog, reading the terrible story and crying tears of symphathy for this family. I remember telling my husband that I thought a book would come out about this. And now I’m holding it in my hand.

The story is poignant. Heartbreaking. I opened the book and started crying through the dedications. And then bawled like a baby as I read the first chapter. My heart broke all over again for this family.

But the story doesn’t end with the grief. The story shows the struggles of the family as they worked their way through the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death discovering answers to their questions, and CHOOSING TO SEE that the God of the mountain is the God of the valley.

Memoirs are not my favorite genre to read, but this one is better than most of them I’ve read recently. The story takes you into the private pain of this public family, and as it unfolds you’ll see them struggling to maintain normalicy, to go on with life despite the horrific loss, and the pain that the one boy will bear the rest of his life. Pictures are included in the center of the book. $21.99 hardcover. 279 pages.